Hyper Piper
by Fantastical Chaos
Summary: Hyper Piper, the least popular girl at school. Bullied, mistreated, and an outcast, she had no one to call her friend. That is until Nero Akita tries to get to know her not as Hyper Piper, but as Rin Kagamine, the girl who gave up everything.
1. Introduction

**Author's Note: Hello, Beautiful People!**

 **So, there's a funny story behind this fanfic, but before I tell it, I'm going to let y'all know this fanfic is actually a prequel to _The Monster Club_ , a fanfic on Kate's account ****K. A. Farron. Now before you click away, you do NOT need to read _The Monster Club_ to understand and enjoy _Hyper Piper_. This story here can be read independently - you will not need to read _The Monster Club_ before or after reading _Hyper_ _Piper_ (but it'd be cool if you did, just throwing that out there).**

 **Now that's out of the way, the funny story. For those of you who don't know, _The Monster Club_ is cowritten by Kate and me. It's a fanfic we have been working on for years and have put so much love and effort into. _The Monster Club_ is one of my favorite stories. Then one day I got an idea - what if there was more to a secondary character's story than initially thought?**

 **When I wrote _Hyper Piper_ two years ago (yes, there is a two-year gap between being written and published), I simply dubbed it a fanfic of Kate's and my fanfic. That's what it was, after all! I wrote it for fun without the intents on making it canon, and I did show it to Kate while I was writing it, but that was it.**

 **However, eventually we started discussing making _Hyper Piper_ canon to _The Monster Club_ universe. We talked on and off about if for a long time (half the reason there was a two-year gap between writing and publishing), and we eventually agreed that _Hyper Piper_ was canon. Good thing for you guys too, or else I wouldn't be publishing it!**

 **Anyway, I asked my dear friend Kate to write the opening and closing chapters in Rin's perspective for this story (if you haven't read _The Monster Club_ , her intro chapter will give you a good idea of the world the characters live in). My chapters will be in Nero's POV. Like _The Monster Club_ , a lot of love and effort went into this story. It's our hope you love our characters half as much as we do!**

 **Disclaimer: Kate and I in no way, shape, or form own Vocaloid. Each character used belongs to the respective company that produced him/her; we merely borrowed them for non-profit entertainment purposes. However, I do claim ownership to the cover art and Kate the words below (I claim ownership of the Nero chapters). Please enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 01: Introduction ~ Rin

Everyone's probably heard of my brother by now. He's that snarky, British kid with a bad temper who thinks he can get together with my current best friend. You know him? Of course you do, who doesn't know him?

I'm Rin, and I'm his twin sister.

You're not here to hear about his story, you're here to hear about mine. Or not mine, really. Actually, it is. It's confusing.

Basically, don't be under the impression that I'm going to be the one telling the story; I'm the one introducing it. The person who will be telling this story is going to be Nero, the bumbling idiot who somehow managed to become my friend. But it still is my story, really. I mean it's all about me, I'm just not the narrator.

Right, so enough fourth wall breaking, let's get down to business.

My brother and I used to live in Britain, which was awesome, and a lot of fun... For me at least.

I had everything I needed. My best friends, Dex and Daina, were absolutely awesome and we'd get up to mischief all the time. Never went a day we spent apart. My mum was awesome too. She was the person we'd inherited our Monster side. She was a single mum, always busy, but somehow managed to make time for me. I'll admit I was a pretty spoiled child. I had good friends, a good family, a good school, good everything. There was nothing for me to worry about.

But Len was a different story. I don't really understand how it works myself since I'm no biologist (Len's the smart one out of the two of us, I'm more creative), but there's this gene that gets passed down through our species, and it affects him in ways it doesn't affect me. He gets grouchy and has a really bad temper. Back in Britain he only ever got into fights, and he never had friends to back him up. Even Mum didn't get along with him. He insists she hates him, but I do try to tell him she still loves him, he's just a pain.

Of course he doesn't listen. It didn't help that Mum decided to send him off to America to live with our aunt.

"She's sending me away," Len grumbled as he sat on his bed, knees tucked up to his chest. I was sat next to him, doing my best to comfort him.

I really do love him more than anything in the world, and I'm like 85% sure he feels the same about me, but we'd never been the closest of siblings - even now - so comforting him was hard. It was the first time I'd seen him cry in years. Tears just kept rolling and rolling down his cheeks and I kept trying to dab them away, but more kept coming.

"I'll go with you," I told him, giving him my widest smile.

"You will?" He looked up, his eyes still red and poofy. It wasn't a good look for him, really. "But you can't come with me, you have a life here. You have your friends, and Mum, and everything else. I have nothing, I don't belong here."

"We're twins, we belong with each other," I told him. "I'll go anywhere with you."

Even now I'm not sure if I regret saying those words.

I had been convinced that America would be awesome, and that I'd make lots of friends like I had back in England. I was pretty popular back there, everyone loved my happy, bubbly personality. But in America it wasn't the same.

Len and I joined our new school a year after everyone else had started. By then everyone had set up their own friendship groups so it was hard to find somewhere to fit in. I tried to be my normal, happy self, but people just turned their nose up at me, as if being happy was a sin.

Thankfully, our uncle worked in the Monster business. Monsters, for those who don't know, are people who aren't human. Either they're another species entirely, like werewolves, or they have magical powers, like the ability to manipulate time. Whatever it is, we're all Monsters, and we have to live in secret. Our Uncle Al works with trying to make life for Monsters easier. It was through him we were introduced to this robot kid named Piko, so we at least knew someone at school who was like us.

Piko was a great guy, but I didn't hit off with him immediately. I was homesick, longing for Dex and Daina. Len, however, hit it off instantly with Piko, so much so you'd expect the two of them to start dating. I simply sat there and smiled, glad that my idiot brother had finally found a friend.

I tried to keep up to date with Len, but he always ignored me in favour of Piko. I didn't blame him, I didn't always pay attention to him back in Britain, but it did kinda hurt that I was constantly flooded over. Still, I told myself I'd find a friend and everything would be okay.

But it wasn't.

I'm not gonna lie; watching Len grow more and more popular was hard, and it hurt. He'd started off being friends with only Piko, and the robot girl Piko would hang out with called Miki. I didn't want to risk snatching his friends away so I simply stayed away. After our new after school club was set up, courtesy of Len himself, he started to hang out with the local vampire too. Kaito, the vampire, was surprisingly popular in his year, and so this got Len into the 'cool' crowd. It's funny, because Akaito, Kaito's older brother, was one of my bullies for some time.

Len will always have a 'bad' reputation at this school. Within the first week he'd gotten into a fight, and he was known as a trouble maker, but apparently the girls liked that. I tried even more to get his attention, now I had no fear of taking his friends away from him, but he was pretty much blind to me. We kept drifting further and further apart, and I couldn't help but wonder if I even had a brother.

And that was when I met Nero.

The first time I remember meeting him wasn't exactly graceful. I was tucked away in a janitor's closest, bawling my eyes out. See, I told you. Not graceful.

You see, half way through the year everything had gotten too much. I had no friends, practically no brother, and constantly had to deal with looks and displeasing stares from all the other kids at school. I hated it, absolutely hated it, and the thing I hated even more was that I knew Len had put up with this for nearly sixteen years, and for me it had only been a few months. His misery came out in temper tantrums and broken noses, mine came as floods of very unattractive tears.

Hyper Piper, that's what the kids called me. Apparently I had too much energy, and so they all teased me for it. No one ever called me by my proper name, they probably didn't even KNOW my proper name. I was only ever called Hyper Piper or the Kagamine Girl or Len's Sister.

So here I was, crying in the janitor's office, trying to get out all my biking up misery before I went back to class. It was best to cry and get it all over with. My knees were tucked up to my chest and my head was buried between them, and I hated how I was just another kid crying in the janitor's closet.

Suddenly the door opened and I looked up with wide eyes. A blond haired, gold eyed boy stood there, staring at me. Through my tears I at first thought it was Len, but I quickly realised it wasn't.

"Are you all right?" he asked, and he went a little rigid as I stared back.

I didn't say anything and just leapt to my feet. I shoved him out of the way and sprinted off down the hall, ignoring his calls for me to come back. I couldn't have anyone see me at my weakest. I couldn't have anyone know how I truly felt.

I'd say more, but I should probably leave it there. Nero has the rest of the story but that pretty much some's up our first meeting.

So I'm Rin and this is my story about how I met my new guy best friend. You may have heard about all my brother's hardships, but this is about mine, and the hardships of the bumbling idiot who thought it was a good idea to make friends with the least popular girl in school.


	2. Meeting Hyper Piper

Chapter 02: Meeting Hyper Piper ~ Nero

 _How can you be completely surrounded by people and yet still feel all alone?_

I wasn't trying to be deep or anything by pondering the words. Truth be told, I was trying to decide which Lays potato chip flavor was my favorite when it all hit me from out of nowhere. My train of thought came to a crashing end, and I looked around the table to see the people I spent my lunch period with every day starting freshman year.

My cousin Dell sat directly across from me, and right beside him was his best friend Akaito. Both were talking about their experience in art class, and it wasn't the lesson that had them cracking up. Listening in on the conversation was Flower, another one of Dell's friends. The only set of seniors at the table who were oblivious were Zatsune and Zeito, choosing instead to suck on each other's faces. To my right sat Neru, my twin sister, who listened to our cousin's story with fake interest. I may have not been alone, but I then began to realize just how lonely I felt.

"The look on her face was priceless," Dell told Akaito. He laughed at the memory.

"Don't forget her reaction," Akaito replied. Then, speaking in a high voice, he imitated, "' _My mum gave me that art set before I left! How could you break all my brushes?!_ '" He and Dell laughed like hyenas over it.

"Although I did spare one, just in case I ever need leverage," Dell said between chuckles.

I glanced at Neru to find her pulling the corners of her lips upwards similar to Flower, but unlike the purplette, Neru wasn't laughing. We both know that if she attempted a giggle, all listening would know how genuine it wasn't.

"How can you stand to hear this?" I asked her, my voice a whisper.

Shushing me, Neru answered, "Just be grateful Dell is letting us sit with him and his friends at the cool table."

"But he spends all lunch period bragging about all the bullying he does!" I hissed, causing Neru to shush me even more.

"We're with the popular kids, Nero," she snapped. "Don't ruin this for me."

I opened my mouth to argue but then thought better of it. "I'm going to the bathroom," I said and left without waiting for a response.

"' _We're with the cool kids, Nero_ ,'" I mimicked my sister as I walked down the empty halls. "' _Don't ruin this for me._ ' Tch! Why's she making a big deal of it? If Neru thinks she can ride Dell's name all through high school and doesn't make a name for herself or any friends of her own, she's going to be in for a massive surprise when Dell and his friends graduate this spring."

I was about to turn a corner when I heard a sound coming from the janitor's closet. Normally noises from there mean keep walking and get away as quickly as possible, but instead I was stopped by the type of sounds I heard. Crying. Somebody was crying.

Pushing the already cracked door further open, I found a girl huddled in the corner. Her waist length blonde hair draped over her shoulders and covered her face like a curtain. That small frame of hers shook with each sob. She hugged herself, face buried in her knees.

"Are you all right?" I asked without thinking. The girl shot her gaze towards me, and I stood frozen by the sight of such large cerulean eyes.

 _It's Hyper Piper._

Of course that's not her real name, but that was the first thought to run through my head. We shared social studies together, but we were definitely not friends. Her hyperactive personality did a good job keeping people away.

Without saying a word, Hyper Piper jumped to her feet and pushed me out of the way before bolting down the hall. I yelled for her to come back, but she didn't listen. For a moment I debated going after her. She looked really upset, yet I wouldn't have known what to say. Would I want to cheer her up? I bit my lower lip, not knowing the answer.

* * *

From that moment to well into woodshop, my final class of the day, I couldn't stop thinking about Hyper Piper. To say I've never noticed her before would be a lie. Everyone noticed her day one.

She's the niece of my literature teacher, Ms. Ann. Hyper Piper moved here with her twin brother about a few months ago, but the reasons for the move were a closely guarded secret. Being from the UK, Hyper Piper and her twin speak with British accents and use a lot of Brit slang. However, it wasn't the foreign aspect or secret of their move that gained the twins so much attention.

The boy, whose name I know to be Len, got into fights. A lot. He and I had gym together, and I learned quickly that if I wanted to stay under his radar, I didn't so much as look at him funny. Unfortunately, we were paired as gym partners pretty often, and the way to remain within the male twin's good graces was to avoid an argument at all cost. Len isn't a bad guy - he's pretty cool if you manage a decent conversation with him, but he can be dangerous when angered.

Then there was Hyper Piper. The nickname came from how at the beginning of the school year, she would bounce in her seat and shake her legs as if she just guzzled down a fast acting energy drink. I don't know about her other classes, but our social studies teacher got onto her a lot for disrupting the lesson. Hyper Piper would apologize, but she didn't completely stop her bouncing. If anything, it got worse whenever somebody told her to sit still. She also tends to ramble whenever she talks, and she could be from the south with how fast she speaks. So naturally the nickname Hyper Piper was born.

"Good job, Mr. Akita," the woodshop teacher told me, pulling me away from my thoughts, as he indicated the knick knack shelf I was building.

"Thanks," I replied, careful to not let it show I wasn't fully focused. It worked. The teacher left without another word, and I sighed in relief.

Try as I might, I couldn't get Hyper Piper off my mind. It was with guilt I realized that I didn't even know her real name. People talked about her a lot, and almost none of it was positive. Yet here I was, letting everything said be my basis for how I judged her. I didn't know her, and it took her crying alone in a closet for me to think that maybe she wasn't happy here at all.

"Guess I might have to change that," I mumbled, wondering how exactly I planned to do it.

* * *

Social studies was Hyper Piper's and my first class of the day. I arrived early in hopes of getting a chance to talk to her before the bell rang, but she didn't show. Starting to think that she wouldn't come to school after crying in a closet just the day before, I exhaled with relief when Hyper Piper, with a long, dripping wet braid sticking to the back of her loose fitting T-shirt, walked into the classroom.

I studied her for a moment. Her leg bounced as she pulled the social studies textbook and some notebooks out of her backpack. One of those notebooks was decorated with doodles of what appeared to be a bunch huskies - she must be a dog lover. I then saw the name Rin Kagamine written in sloppy cursive on the same dog-infested book.

 _Rin._

Mouthing the name a few times so it felt natural, I turned my attention to the Brit and greeted, "Hey, Rin."

Said girl snapped her head in my direction as her already large cerulean eyes widened to nearly twice their size. Her arm froze midair from retrieving her black mechanical pencils, and even her leg has stopped shaking. I don't think anyone has ever seen Hyper Piper so still before.

As she didn't reply with a hello of her own, I asked, "How are you today?"

"Fine," she answered. Still staring at me, Hyper Piper set her pencils on her desk and laid her backpack on the ground. The intense gaze she was throwing at me began to make me feel uncomfortable.

Thinking fast, I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head. "Your eyebrows look amazing today."

She raised those same brows, and I mentally kicked myself for such an awkward compliment. "Uh . . . Thanks?"

"You're welcome." I thought I did a good job keeping my grin from faltering, but I couldn't fight the thought that I was making a bigger fool of myself than she ever did by her inability to sit still.

Fortunately I was saved by the bell. The teacher walked in, we began class, and things went on as normal. Or almost normal. Unlike before, I kept staring at Hyper Piper. It wasn't long before she realized what I was doing, however.

During one of my stolen glances, she and I made direct eye contact. I smiled, and she frowned.

"Mr. Tonio?" she raised her hand as she called the teacher's attention. "May I please be moved to a different seat?"

Mr. Tonio rose an eyebrow but didn't question her request. Hyper Piper moved to a desk a couple rows behind me, and I was left unable to look at her. I planned to talk to her when the bell signaled dismissal, but she ran out of the room before I could even get my stuff together.

* * *

Lunch period came slowly that day. Having brown bagged it, I took my lunch out of my backpack and looked for Hyper Piper. I didn't see her in the cafeteria, but I did find Neru waving me over. I shook my head as a way to tell her that I wouldn't be joining the cool kids for lunch that day before I exited the large room.

I searched for roughly ten minutes before I found Hyper Piper sitting outside in the soccer field with her own lunch spread across her lap. Instead of resting on the bleachers, she sat in the grass. As I approached her, I noticed that she was eating a cucumber sandwich.

"Personally, I find cucumbers disgusting," was how I chose to get her attention. Hyper Piper looked up at me, her jaw stopping mid chew. "Mind if I join you?" I asked.

Swallowing her food, Hyper Piper answered, "Yes, I do mind. Go away."

"But you're all lonely over here."

"I want to be alone."

"Don't lie to yourself." I sat down next to her and began unpacking my own sandwich. "You might think you want to be alone - you may even believe that you want to be alone - but nobody ever, ever wants to be by themselves. We humans are social creatures, after all."

"You don't know what you're saying," she said, rolling her eyes ever so slightly. "I can sit with my brother any time I so choose. Today is different because I want to be alone."

"Does this have anything to do with yesterday?" I asked.

Hyper Piper forced air out of her nose before she answered. "Just because I'm not eating in the canteen does not mean I'm still upset about yesterday."

Of all the ways to respond, I had to go with furrowing my brows and questioning, "Canteen?"

"Ugh!" Hyper Piper threw her head back. "Leave me alone already."

"Why are you refusing to allow me to join you?"

"My mum warned me about strange American men, and you're a strange American man."

"How am I strange?"

Using her best American accent, which honestly kind of sucked, Hyper Piper repeated, "'Your eyebrows look amazing today.'"

"Maybe I have an eyebrow fetish," I claimed.

"All the more reason to avoid you," she replied.

I opened my mouth to argue but closed it because she made a good point. Taking a large bite if my ham and cheese sandwich, I grumbled through the food, "All I wanted was to say something nice to you."

"What was that?" Hyper Piper cocked her head to the side, her brows pinched in confusion.

Instead of repeating myself, I stated, "Your toes look nice."

The comment made Hyper Piper look at her sandaled feet. "You're so weird."

"You're one to talk, Hyper Piper." As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished I could take them back.

Tears forming in the corners of her eyes, Hyper Piper mumbled, "I know," before rising to her feet, gathering her lunch stuff, and stalking away.

My eyes on her retreating figure, I mentally kick myself even more. I ended up making everything worse.

* * *

Ever since the episode on the soccer field, Hyper Piper- No! Rin. Her name is Rin.

Rin has spent lunch period sitting with her brother and three of his friends. One of these friends has silver hair and different color eyes, the other is a ginger with mischief written all over her features, and the last has midnight blue hair and albino skin. The five of them make a decent group, but I could tell Rin didn't feel much of a part.

Now that I thought about it, Rin and I were a lot alike. We were both a part of a group, but neither of us felt as if we actually belonged. Oddballs. We were oddballs. Neither of us fit in where we were, and the truth was we didn't have anywhere else to go.

A few days later I again ditched my twin and ate lunch in a tree. It feels nice being so high up, but very few appreciate the preference. If anything, it - as well as my awkwardness - is the reason I stand out so much.

I was about to peel my orange when a sobbing noise grew louder as its maker came closer. Whoever was crying settled under my tree. As the tree was near the end of school campus and populated by practically nobody, it would make sense for someone to hide here while they cried.

For a minute I debated whether or not to make myself known. In the end, I decided that it was my duty as a fellow human being to at least make sure that the person enduring such a negative emotion was going to be all right. My lunch packed back away, I climbed to the lower branches and dropped towards the ground.

"Bloody hell!" Rin gasped as my feet smacked the earth. Her face was splotchy and red, but what drew my attention was the black and blue forming just above her elbow.

"What happened?" I asked, kneeling beside her and trying to observe the bruise.

"None of your business!" Rin answered as she snatched her arm from my reach.

I didn't fight to look at Rin's arm, but I did look her in the eyes to let her know I wasn't going to let this go easily. "Did someone hurt you?"

"Leave me alone."

"Did someone hurt you?"

We made direct eye contact and stared into each other's eyes for what felt to be ages. Finally, "Someone, and I won't say whom, grabbed my arm and forced me to stand in place so that I couldn't run away from their taunts. They squeezed tighter and tighter with each insult, and they had one hell of a grip." Rubbing the bruise, Rin added, "I could've beat the ever loving snot out of them if I wanted to: I'm much stronger than I look. However, my family can't have another member fighting in school. Or in general. It's better to just stand there and accept it."

I spent a minute in complete amazement that Rin would tell me so much after her refusal to have a normal conversation with me during our previous encounters. I was so awed, in fact, that I almost forgot to reply. "Have you told an adult? Rin, if you're being bullied-"

"It's not bullying!" Rin interrupted. "Okay, yes I'm being picked on, insulted, and purposely excluded, but it's nothing I can't handle. I don't need to go to an adult."

Before I said anything, I studied her. Her aunt and uncle are teachers at this school, so I know Rin was fully aware that she would have no trouble telling an adult she was being bullied. It would be her and her relatives word against anyone else's.

"Is this about your brother? Len?" I finally asked.

Looking down at her lap, Rin answered, "Maybe."

"Len and I have gym class together. He can be a little . . . short tempered."

"And that's just when people pick on him." Rin sighed. "If Len knew how badly I was messed with, he would hurt my offender so badly that it won't be a stretch of the imagination to say Len would end up in jail. I swear he's a good guy, but he just doesn't know how to show it."

When I didn't reply, Rin unwrapped her hoodie from around her waist and put it on in order to hide the bruise. Now that she stopped crying, she suffered only the aftermath effect of stained cheeks and puffy eyes. Nothing cold water can't fix.

"You just want to protect your brother?" I concluded.

Rin nodded in confirmation. "He already feels bad enough that I gave up everything to come here with him. If he knew exactly how miserable I am, even I can't imagine what he would do."

"Don't worry. You're secret's safe with me." Those were cliché words, but they had to have been the right thing to say since hearing them made Rin exhale with relief.

"Thank you," she whispered. Noticing something behind me, she pointed and asked, "What is that?"

I turned around to find that when I dropped my lunch on the ground, my orange rolled out. I picked up the citrus and answered, "Just the humble orange. It blows my mind that these things are pre-sliced by nature." Since Rin's eyes wouldn't leave the fruit, I offered, "Want it?"

"Yes, please," she said. "Want my crisps in exchange?"

"Crisps?"

"Uh, chips?" Rin dug inside her bag and pulled out the yellow bags I love so much.

"Deal!" I exclaimed as I gave her the orange and accepted the bag of potato chips. "These things are amazing."

"Such a shame that the original is the easiest one to buy in small bags like that." Despite not having a peeler, Rin was tearing the orange apart with no problems. "I like the salt and vinegar flavor best, but I've had to learn to settle with plain."

"At least salt and vinegar is already established as a famous option," I said between bites. "Imagine having cheddar cheese as a favorite flavor, or dell pickle, or even bacon mac and cheese."

"Ew!" Rin screwed up her face in disgust. "Bacon macaroni and cheese flavored crisps? No wonder Americans are fat."

"Hey," I hold up a finger, "statistically speaking, the UK is fatter than the U.S. That comment is not valid."

"But that's not fair," Rin argued as she separated the pre-sliced orange bites. "My country is tiny compared to yours. Besides, we don't have a fast food restaurant around every corner: that's strictly American."

"We don't have a fast food restaurant around every corner," I begin. "It's every other corner. Get your facts straight." Then to let her know I was just teasing, I reached out and ruffled Rin's bangs.

"Stop touching me!" she yelled as she swatted at my hand, but she giggled as she did it so I knew I was on the right track.

"Hey," I laughed as I pulled my hand away, "I don't think I've seen you smile before."

Then like that, it was gone. Rin's lips pulled downwards, and again she kept the energy she was known for trapped inside her small body. She focused her attention on the orange and said not another word.

"We could be friends?" I offered, the words sounding as uncertain as I felt. I wanted to be friends, but I could already sense that the feeling wasn't mutual.

"I have all the friends I need. They're just not here." Rin rose and said as she left, "Thank you for the orange. I hope you enjoy the rest of those crisps."

I wanted to run after her, but instead I let her go. Even though I had no plans to give up, I wasn't going to try to force friendship onto her. Besides, it wasn't impossible to be her friend without her being mine.

* * *

One of the kitchen stools' leg broke again, so I spent my Friday night in the garage fixing it. The reason I took woodshop was because I knew it would be an easy A; I fix broken things around the house all the time, so there wasn't much else that the class could teach me. Not to mention the class was a relaxing distraction from what I put up with normally.

"Dell called," was how Neru announced her presence. She entered the garage at sat on the stool across from me and watched me sandpaper the new leg. "He wants to know why you're not sitting with us during lunch."

After Rin's lost smile, I stopped sitting with Neru and Dell altogether.

"I just haven't been interested," I said as I smoothed out the wood.

"You won't keep your cool status long if you keep sitting out like an outcast."

"Doesn't matter." I took my attention away from the task and met my twin in the eyes. "I won't be able to keep my cool status forever, so might as well get used to what's to come."

"What are you talking about?" Neru questioned, pinching her brows together. "Dell is the most popular guy in the entire school."

"He won't be when he graduates," I pointed out. "Next year there will be new seniors to take up that role, ready to set up their own rules and standards. Neru, do you honestly think they're going to accept you into their group just for being Dell's cousin?"

Neru didn't miss a beat. "Of course."

"Then you're stupider than you look," I said before I knew the words left my mouth, but Neru didn't react. We've had similar talks before. "You're an amazing drummer," I continued. "Why don't you join the school band and-"

I was interrupted by one of Neru's famous snorts. "And be a band geek? No way!"

"Then join the cheer team or track team or whatever, just don't do nothing."

Narrowing her eyes, Neru spits, "I'm not doing anything as lame as track, and you and I both know that cheerleading is overrated."

It was all I could do to not grit my teeth in irritation. "Stop thinking from the popularity standpoint and think about what you like to do. If you don't at least try to make your own friends, you're going to be stuck all alone with nobody but me to tag along with."

"Whatever," Neru mumbled as she looked away. With nothing to add but clearly wanting to push my buttons, she said, "And why are you fixing that stool again? It breaks all the time, yet you keep fixing it. Why not just buy a new one? It's not like that stool is special or anything."

Neru had a point. The stool is just an old wooden one, generic in almost every way except it is tall enough for whoever sits on it to reach our bar in the kitchen. It still gets a broken leg pretty often no matter what technique I try, but still I don't buy a replacement. It's mine, and I won't toss it out as long as I can fix it.

As I smoothed the leg before attaching it to the stool, a thought crossed my mind. People and things do have something in common: they can be broken. But . . .

"How do you fix a person?" I whispered.

"What?" Neru furrowed her brows. "What did you say?"

I repeated my question louder so that she could hear. "How do you fix a person?"

Shaking her head, Neru replied, "What are you going at, Nero? That has nothing to do with what we were talking about."

"Excuse me." I set everything down and stalked out of the garage. Neru called after me, but I didn't respond. I was thinking about Rin again. When I entered my room, I picked up and looked over one of my more recent projects. I could never doubt that she said that she hated it here: I saw first-hand why she had so many reasons to feel that way.

With all the torment she must have endured, I knew she really needed someone to make her feel welcomed and accepted. So why claim that she didn't want to be friends? Did she think I was out to get her, or did she just not like me based on the judgments she'd already formed? Regardless, I wasn't going to give in. Rin needed a friend, and whether or not she wanted it, she was getting one.


	3. The Girl Who Gave Up Everything

Chapter 03: The Girl Who Gave Up Everything ~ Nero

After I risked what felt like my life for sneaking off campus to go across the street to the town's best coffee shop, the relief of finding Rin sitting outside during lunch period was huge. Having finished eating already, Rin sat doodling in one of her notebooks. Her lunch trash lay forgotten, and she seemed immersed with whatever it was she drew.

"Rin!" I greeted with a smile that showed all my teeth. Rin's reaction . . . wasn't as cheerful.

"Not you again," she complained after a loud groan.

Totally ignoring her, I held out a sweating plastic cup and swirled it around to mix its contents. "I brought you some tea."

Rin stuck out her tongue in disgust. "I don't like tea."

"What do you mean you don't like tea?" I asked, eyebrows shot up. "You're British."

Sitting on her knees with hands placed firmly on her hips, Rin answered, "Saying I like tea because I'm British is the exact same as saying you're an idiot because you're American."

Sitting next to her while maintaining a respectful distance, I said, "That's not fair: you already know I'm an idiot." She responded with a snort. When I saw she wasn't going to accept the tea, I decided to drink it for myself. "Your loss. This tastes more like mixed berry apple juice than tea."

"Why'd you get it for me anyway?" she asked.

"I don't know," I answered even though that was clearly a lie. "Maybe . . . Maybe I wanted to extend some peace offering of sorts, to let you know that my desire to be your friend is genuine."

"Oh," was all Rin said, shifting her eyes to her lap. Her long hair was worn down, so it shifted to fall over her shoulders and cover her eyes. As much as I studied her in that moment, I still cannot figure out what might have been running through her head. She ran her fingers through her blonde hair, moving it out of her face, before again making eye contact. "What's your mum like?"

Her question threw me off guard. "What?"

"Your mum," she repeated. "You know, the woman who gave birth to you."

"I know what a mom is. What I don't know is why you're asking about mine."

Rin shrugged. "I know you know about me. I mean, British kids don't exactly move to America for just because." She seemed like she was going to say more but instead settled with, "The point I'm trying to make is, you're nowhere near as exciting as Len and me, so there's little to hear about you. I think if you know about me, wouldn't it be fair if I could say the same?"

"You're right," I replied, because she was. I smiled before I asked, "Did you try to hear anything about me prior to asking?"

"Oh, uh, no. No, not at all." Rin avoided eye contact as she answered, and I enjoyed seeing that she blushed a little bit at my question.

"My mom is the coolest woman on the planet," I said, answering Rin's initial question. "She's had to single handedly raise Neru and me since we were five, and though she's nowhere near perfect, I say does a pretty good job. Never missed a school play, soccer game, or anything. She's super supportive, even at times when I can admit I was a complete idiot. Her biggest flaw, however, is that she can't cook. Ever had mac and cheese that was burnt and undercooked at the same time? Try my mom's, and you won't be able to say that anymore. I love the woman, but oh God, don't try her cooking."

I saw Rin fighting a smile. It was obvious she wanted to, but she refused to let it show. "And your dad?"

"Yeah," I shifted uneasily, "we don't talk about him."

"Oh." Rin pulled her knees to her chest and hugged her legs. "We don't talk about mine, either."

"Was he a bad guy?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. I've never met him."

"So he left before you and Len were born?"

Rin was quiet as she thought it through. Finally, "You can say that."

I don't ask anymore because a question of greater value weighs on my mind. "How do I fix you?"

Taken aback, Rin pinched her brows together and said, "Fix me? Nero, I'm not broken."

It's the first time she said my name. "Yes, you are," I insisted. "Wanna know a secret? I'm broken, too. And so is everyone else in the world. Some more than others, sure, but there isn't a person alive who hasn't been broke one way or another."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you being so miserable that I've caught you crying two separate occasions." Running a hand through my hair, I sighed and continued, "I can see you're going through a real tough time right now, and I don't want to see you handle it by yourself."

"I'm not some damsel in distress that needs rescuing," Rin countered. "Believe me, all it would take is one phone call, and I can leave this God forbidden country forever and never look back. I'm not the prisoner here. I can go whenever I want."

"But you won't," I pointed out, surprised by my own confidence. "You won't leave Len. You said so yourself, Rin, that you left everything to come here with him, and I know you won't abandon him regardless of how bad things for you get."

For a moment it seemed Rin wasn't going to say anything, and then finally, "Why won't you leave me alone?"

"Hasn't it ever crossed your mind that I want to be your friend?" I asked. "That I really, honestly want to be your friend?"

"You don't want to be my friend." Rin answered as if the words were painful for her to speak. "Nobody wants to be friends with Hyper Piper."

I weighed her words before I spoke mine. "You're right, they don't. Even I don't want to be friends with Hyper Piper." Then I see it, something crushing inside of Rin - her whole form dropped, and her eyes began to shine from building liquid: this all told me that as much as she expected my answer, she didn't want to hear it. Then I continued with, "It's not Hyper Piper I care about, but Rin. I want to be friends with Rin. Why doesn't she want to be friends with me?"

Before Rin could answer, the bell rang. Lunch break was over, and we had five minutes to get to our respected classes. She opened her mouth, froze, then turned around and gathered her belongings. When she was done, Rin looked at me one last time and said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Rin." I watched as she walked away, turning back to look at me. We held eye contact for a moment, and then I smiled and waved.

To my surprise, Rin waved back. It wasn't a friendly wave, really. She didn't smile, and she waved slowly and awkwardly, as if she wasn't sure she should. I kept smiling as she turned away again. I was making some progress, and that's always better than nothing.

* * *

The next day, I arrived late to social studies thanks to my alarm failing to go off. I missed the bus and had to have Mom drive me to school. She was pretty ticked that Neru, who had zero issues that morning, couldn't be bothered to wake me in time. All else I'm going to say about the instance was it put me in a bad mood for that morning.

By the time I got to social studies, class was almost over. I didn't make eye contact with anyone. I didn't even check to see if Rin was there. All I did was sit at my desk and cross my arms, glaring at the clock on the wall.

Ten minutes later, the bell dismissed us to our next period. Before I could pick my tote bag back up, a flash of yellow passed by and left a folded sheet of notebook paper on my desk. I grabbed it as I stood from my desk and read it as I walked down the hallway. Despite having only seen the penmanship one other time, I recognized the sloppy handwriting instantly.

Meet me by the tennis court during lunch. I'm going to give you one chance to convince me why we should be friends. Don't make me regret it.

I knit my brows in annoyance. How were my past attempts to befriend her not good enough? I knew she didn't have any reason to trust me, but I felt a little hurt she was still being so stubborn.

As I folded the note and put it in my pocket, I decided I wasn't going to try to convince Rin of anything. If she didn't want to be friends, then that would be her choice. However, I wasn't going to let an opportunity to show her a good time pass away that easily.

* * *

"You're late," was how Rin greeted me when she saw me approaching. Behind her, in the court, two girls - a brunette and a pinkette - played a vicious game of tennis. "Lunch is halfway over," Rin stated as I came to a stop beside her.

"Sorry, but I had to get something ready," was all I said before I turned around and ordered, "Follow me."

I almost laughed at the disbelief in Rin's voice when she said, "Excuse me?"

"What?" I turned around and threw my arms into the air. "I can ask if you're all right, make you laugh, and give you tea you don't like all I want, but does any of it even matter?" Before Rin could reply, I added, "I can't convince you to be friends with me. Only you can make that decision."

"Then why do you want me to follow you?" Rin asked. She tied her long hair into a ponytail as she said it, and I could see it in her eyes she wouldn't be afraid to fight me of I dared try anything.

I answered her question with one of my own. "When was the last time you had fun?"

That seemed to confuse her. "What?"

"You hate it here," I recalled. "If not for Len, you wouldn't even be here. I can't imagine leaving everything I've ever known to live somewhere foreign. I don't think I could do it, so I respect you for that, but that doesn't mean being here has to be so awful for you." I still don't know why I did it, but I held out my hand. An offering, I guess. "I need you to trust me, Rin. You gave me a chance, so now let me put it to use."

Rin hesitated for so long I feared she was going to turn away. However, she instead reached out and wrapped her fingers around mine. The touch was uncertain, but she met me in the eyes. I trust you, her eyes seemed to say, and I will beat you to a bloody pulp if I'm made to regret it.

* * *

"Your insane!" Rin exclaimed at what I wanted her to do with me. "We'll get caught."

"No, we won't." I climbed into the golf cart and studied the controls. It looked easy enough to drive, and still not being in the best of moods, I decided that taking the security golf cart for a joyride would be a less damaging way to get the tension and stress out of me. Nobody was here. Why should I chicken out when there are no witnesses to turn me in?

Well, no witnesses save for the British blonde staring at me in total disbelief.

"You don't even have the key," Rin pointed out. I immediately proved her wrong by holding it out and waving it back and forth. "How did you-"

"You asked why I was late," I interrupted. "This is way." Looking her up and down, I carefully asked, "Are you in?"

Rin was shaking her head, but I could see that she wasn't telling me no. What Rin was doing was trying to talk herself out of this. Why would she need to convince herself to not do this if she already didn't want to?

"You're no goodie-two-shoes," I called out while wearing a Cheshire grin. "I bet you used to get into all kinds of trouble at your old school." Rin didn't deny it. If anything, she confirmed my suspicion with a wide-eyed stare. "Want to know what I think?"

"What do you think?"

Grinning all the more, I said, "I think at your core, your more mischievous than anyone else at this whole school." With a laugh, I recalled an example. "Last week, Len's previously white gym shorts were pink. Somehow a pair of your cousin's red socks got mixed into the laundry load. That wasn't an accident, was it, Rin?"

"Hmph!" Rin crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Len called me an irritating wort in front of his friends. I don't care what you say: he deserved the pink shorts."

I barked a laugh, and even Rin couldn't help but throw in a smile. "What are you waiting for?" I spat the passenger seat. "Let's take her out for a spin."

For a second Rin stared at the seat and bit her lip. It was with a shrug she sat down and looked over the controls. "Is this much different from a car?"

With a shrug of my own, I said, "Not really. I mean, it doesn't look that way."

"Do you have your license?"

"My permit. Why?"

Rin shot me a surprised stare. "Isn't it illegal for you to drive a vehicle without your license?"

"Not a golf cart." I smirked as I shifted the cart into reverse. With "Hold on!" as my only warning, I floored the gas and we took off.

It wasn't a scream I heard on my right, but a shout of genuine excitement. As we pulled out of the makeshift garage, I shifted to drive before speeding towards the direction of the sports fields. I went fast. I went so fast, the adrenaline had the blood pounding behind my ears and all my senses on red alert. My chest hurt from how hard my heart beat, and I savored every second of that rush.

However, it was nothing compared to what Rin seemed to experience. She screamed and laughed at the same time; I've never seen her smile so widely or shout so loudly. It was as if a whole other person sat next to me, a person I wanted to see more of. When we came to an area surrounded by students who chose to spend lunch period outside, Rin took another step up on her excitement level.

"Hi, Gumi! Hi, Sonika!" Rin waved as we passed two greenettes. I didn't take the opportunity to see their reaction. "Whoa! Move it or lose it, pal! Hey, you, you're cute!"

When I made a turn for the trees, I didn't fail to notice Neru staring at me, mouth agape with disbelief. To make matters worse, Dell and Akaito were standing with her. Seeing how both of the guys looked pretty irritated, I held up my hand in a motionless wave and showed them a halfhearted smile.

Rin must have not noticed because she was still cheering and laughing. She didn't stop until I drove into the mini-forest and parked the golf cart. No longer in motion, Rin frowned. When she looked at me, her eyes seemed to say, Why did you stop? I was having fun.

"We should probably take this back," I said. Looking at her, I smiled and asked, "Want to drive?"

"Wait, are you serious?"

"No, I'm Nero."

"Hahaha." Rin shook her head, but I didn't miss the little smile she wore. "I'll drive," she answered, "but I have no experience, so any injuries you receive are not my fault. You have been warned."

"All I ask is that I return in one piece," was all I said before I got out. Rin scooted to the driver's side while I walked around. I almost asked if I proved myself to her, but I stopped myself before the words could form. In that moment, Rin seemed happy. I mean actually happy. As she searched around the controls to figure out which did what, there was a real smile on her face. I didn't want it to disappear, so I said nothing. Or at least not until Rin accidentally shifted the cart to drive and drove us into a tree.

"Maybe you should drive us back," she said, but she laughed as she said it. "I apparently can't tell forwards from backwards."

Fortunately, we were close to the tree already when Rin gave the engine gas - any damage Rin might have caused to the front of the cart wouldn't be more than a scratch. Other than a jump scare, she and I were fine. I decided it would be best to not take any more risks.

"Let's just leave the keys in the ignition and walk back," I suggested. "Lunch period is almost over."

"Nope," Rin replied, her mood taking a sudden shift. "I just heard the bell." Her hearing must be fantastic because I didn't hear a thing. Jumping out of the cart, Rin said mostly to herself, "My next class is with my uncle. I have to explain why I'm late, and then I'd have to hear about it when I get home. Oh no!"

Without another word, Rin took off. I frowned at her retreating figure. If Rin really does hear about her being late from her uncle when she gets home, then I hope Ms. Anne doesn't connect it with my showing up late to Literature.

* * *

I tried not to smirk at Len Kagamine's pink gym shorts. Now that I knew the story behind them, it was harder to not react. I still tried though because I wanted to leave PE without any broken bones.

Since our coach had to find his timer for the laps we were running today, we were left to take care of our own warm ups and stretches. Most of the boys talked and goofed off, but I sat aside and made a point in stretching my hamstrings. Running injuries are no joke.

"Akita!"

Fear shot through me. Len didn't see me smiling to myself about his shorts, did he? Acting calmer than I felt, I looked towards the male twin. "Kagamine," I responded as I stood up. He called me by my last name, so I thought I should perhaps do the same.

Len, to his credit, cut straight to the point. "What the hell are doing with my sister?"

I wasn't trying to play innocent, yet I still responded with, "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Len growled. "Do you really think I didn't know that you've been hunting her down every day at lunch?"

"Honestly? Yeah."

It was as Len punched me in the jaw so hard I staggered back that I realized I probably should have given a different response. When I recovered, I noticed he held his fingers closed in tight fists. His body was tense, and he waited patiently for me to hit him back.

Truth be told, I wanted to return the favor. Rin was miserable because of him, all I was doing was trying to be her friend, and he deserved to know the kind of jerk he was being to the both of us. Besides, he hit first and had a rep for starting fights: no one would blame me if I felt as if I needed to defend myself against Len Kagamine.

Yet I couldn't. I kept my fingers flexed so Len wouldn't feel the need to jump on me before I could throw the nonexistent punch he anticipated. Although I'm taller than him, he outweighs me by plenty. I'm skin and bones - practically a string bean, and the guy's built like a wolf. Slender but powerful.

"I'm not going to fight you," I said, and meant it. Fighting him would do neither of us any good. It wouldn't fix Rin's problems or make me any more favorable in her eyes. A fight would just be an unnecessary mess as I feebly attempt to win back my pride only to have Len ultimately strip it from me.

These are times it's great I have practically no pride.

While I thought this, Len looked me over like he was testing if I was tricking him. Seeing no proof of dishonesty, Len shook his head. "Stay away from my sister, or I'll beat your honorable arse."

"Why do you want me staying away from Rin?" I asked, surprised at my bravery. I won't lie when I say I used to be a little scared of Len, and I was definitely scared at the time. Yet for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to back down and give him what he wanted.

"I'm a guy, too," Len answered. "I know what it means for us to take interest in girls."

"Whoa, hold up." I rose my hands, palms out. "I have no such intentions or secret agendas with you sister. All I want is to be Rin's friend."

Len sneered. "Guys don't usually want to be 'just friends' with a girl."

"Maybe," I agreed, "but that's not always the case. What about that ginger you hang out with? Miki? Aren't you just friends with her?"

Rolling his eyes, Len mumbled, "Miki hardly counts as a girl."

"So you see what I mean?" Len looks like he wants to correct me on something but instead chooses to let me be stupid. I put my hands down. "I'm not going to hurt Rin."

"That's what you say, but I'm not going to trust you that easily." Len glares at me in such a way I feel like the short one. "Staying away from Rin is best bet, because if you do hurt her, I'm going to rip your throat out with my teeth."

I gulp because I doubt Len's threat is just words. As I watch him walk away, I try to put the whole situation aside. Len talked to me, with words, about Rin. That has to mean he has some respect for me since he didn't let his fists do all the talking. Of course, that doesn't mean I should take lightly of the situation, either.

Well, Rin's twin isn't my biggest fan, but that doesn't mean I'm going to back off from Rin just because he said to. Besides, Len is the least of my worries. It's my own blood that I'm really afraid of.

* * *

After school ended for the day, and the episode with Len at gym purged from my mind, I rushed to leave campus before either Neru or Dell could get a hold of me. They would want to know what I was doing spending time with Rin instead of them, and though I had no regrets whatsoever with who I chose to spend time with, I was not yet ready to face them. I all but ran when I left the building, but I failed to get away alone.

"Hey, wait up!"

I stopped, turned around, and felt relief to see that it was Rin catching up to me. She had fixed her ponytail from the mess it became during our joyride, and it appeared the rush of what we did still affected her through the red in her cheeks. When she caught up, she said, "Why are in such a hurry to leave? I want to talk to you."

"Can't we walk while we talk?" I asked. I knew that at any minute, one of my relatives was going to rear their ugly head.

"We can, but we won't," Rin answered. Then she surprised me with her question, "Are you ashamed to be seen with me?"

"What?! Why would you-" I cut myself off. I didn't need to ask the question because I already knew the answer. Rin and I had never been seen together, and for all I knew, this was a test of some sorts. "I'm not ashamed to associate with you." To further prove my point, I walked back towards the steps and sat on the bottom one, much to the annoyance of students who now had me as an obstacle in the way of their freedom. "Sit with me."

Rin did just that, further causing irritation in students that want nothing more than to go home. "I want to thank you for earlier," Rin said slowly as she played with the end of her ponytail. "It was . . . a lot of fun."

"It was, wasn't it?" I grinned. "I can't decide which was better: the adrenaline rush or seeing you having so much fun."

My comment caused Rin to blush. Continuing to play with her hair, she said, "About that, it really was the most fun I've had since moving here. For a moment, I forgot. I forgot where I was and what my situation is, I forgot how much I wish I was back in Britain with my mum, and I forgot the issues Len and I have been having with each other these past few weeks. In those minutes, none of it mattered. I forgot everything, and it felt really good, too." She stared at me for a minute, and I could see how misty her eyes were getting. "Does that make me an awful person?"

I shook my head. "No, it makes you human. Rin, you can sacrifice all that you are for the ones you love, but that doesn't mean you will be happy. It's okay to be selfish every once and a while and give yourself a reason to love the life you have. Don't think you need to feel guilty when you're happy, either. Len's happiness doesn't have to come at the cost of yours. His life is what he makes of it, and it's not your responsibility to make sure he makes good of his circumstances. If he can't get a handle on anything, it's not your fault."

After a deep sigh, Rin replied, "I know, but that doesn't make any of it easy." She looked as if she was going to say more, but something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. I followed her gaze to find Dell staring us both down, Neru standing behind him. "I-I should go," Rin said quickly. Without wasting a second, Rin jumped to her feet and jogged away.

Dell's and my staring contest didn't last long before I broke away and shouted, "I'll come with you."

When I caught up with her, Rin said, "I am so sorry. I can't believe I was so stupid. Now because of me-"

"Nothing is because of you," I interrupted. "If Dell has problems, then they're strictly his problems. Don't think you did anything."

"But I did everything." Rin shook her head. "Now it's only a matter of time before you hate me."

"Rin, I'm not going to hate you. I made my decision a long time ago."

As much as I wanted to convince Rin that Dell's seeing us together was not as big of a deal as she was making it out to be, I didn't. Nothing I said was going to change her mind. Just like me, we both already made our decisions – the only problem was Rin's decision was that nobody could befriend her without facing consequences that will result in nothing but hatred for her. I wanted to prove her otherwise, but I didn't know how. Rin needed reassurance, but I didn't know how to provide it.

"I should really go now," Rin finally said. "Thanks for all that you've done, but I'm sorry, Nero. I'm very sorry." Then she ran away so fast I knew I couldn't catch up with her regardless how fast I ran.

I frowned, and my chest grew heavy. So much of me hoped this wasn't the end of it all. From the look in Dell's eyes, my fate was sealed. No matter what he says when he sees me, it wouldn't change a thing. I could never regret trying to befriend Rin. However, that didn't mean I wouldn't feel at loss if I gave up everything and didn't earn Rin's friendship in the end.

* * *

For minutes that felt like hours, I stood on the front porch of my house. Dell's car was in the driveway; he was here. I hung outside instead of going in because I wanted to think about what I was going to hear and what I was going to say in response upon entry. It was only when I realized no amount of planning would ever prepare me that I took a deep breath and opened the front door. If I'm never going to be ready, might as well get it over with.

Of all the things I expected when I walked inside the house, a blow to the jaw was not on the list. I stumbled but just barely managed to avoid falling over. Dell got me in the same spot Len socked me earlier, and I knew the bruise was only going to get worse now. After I rubbed the stinging flesh, I looked my cousin dead in the eyes. "Was that really necessary?"

"I can't believe you," Dell snarled. "I take my pipsqueak cousins under my wing, let them sit with the popular crowd, and allow them to throw my name around at parties, and this is how you repay me? You throw away everything I gave you for that stupid, annoying Hyper Piper? _Hyper Piper?!_ "

Taking a moment to breathe, I said, "First off, her name is Rin, not Hyper Piper. Second, what's it matter to you who I choose to have as a friend?"

"Friend?" Dell sneered the word, chewed on it, made the word sound vile and sickening. "You call that hyperactive weirdo your friend? HA!"

Dell's exclaim made me jump. I stared at him as he laughed at his own thoughts. So much of me wanted to argue that Rin, though clearly hyper, was not a weirdo. If anything, she was the most real person I met, even if she kept so much of who she was behind a closely guarded wall.

Then again, don't we all hide behind walls?

I, too scared to say anything, watched Dell until he laughed himself out. When he finished, he straightened up and made eye contact with me. It was a fight for dominance, and I tried to not look away. I tried so hard, but I wasn't strong enough. Seconds barely passed before my gaze fell.

"You're no better than Uncle Anan," Dell finally said. "I don't even know why I call that psychopath my uncle. All I know now is the insanity must be genetic."

"He's your mother's brother," I pointed out.

"But I'm not a direct descendant," Dell countered. "I wonder how your little friend will feel when she knows what your father is, how crazy and even dangerous he is. There is a reason you haven't seen dear old dad in ten years, isn't there?"

"Leave Rin out of this," I said through gritted teeth. "If you have issues with me being friends with her, then deal with me, but don't drag her into the family drama. Don't say a word."

"Or what?" Dell smirked. What he had dangling over my head was a big family secret, and he had gotten to the point that he wasn't afraid to "accidentally" let it slip for the whole school to know.

"Neru doesn't deserve the consequences," I replied. "If you go after me with that information, you'll hurt her too."

Dell hummed to himself as he pretended to weigh his options. It easily wasn't a hard choice, that I could say. He let us join in with his popularity not because he wanted to or because either Neru or I asked. All Dell wanted was to keep a close eye on his "dorky" relatives so that we didn't taint his name. Now with him graduating in a few months, he knew what circulated about Neru and me wouldn't matter to him. He would be gone, and nobody cares to spread the rumors of an absent person.

"Why are you doing this if you care so little about me?" I asked. "Does destroying my social status excite you more than watching me do it myself?"

"That," Dell admitted, "and this."

At first I was confused by what he meant. Then Neru came from behind the doorway. She had been listening the whole time, and tears ran down her cheeks. Clearly she had expected as much from Dell, but me? One misstep from me, and whatever popularity we supposedly had was over for the both of us.

"You seriously can't be on his side," I told my twin sister. "Neru, this a person he's staking everything on. A person with thoughts and feelings."

"I don't care, Nero!" Neru snapped. "You know how much this popular status means to me. Why are you throwing it away on somebody like her? I'm your sister! I should be the important one. Not her."

My face burned. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Your popularity status, which I remind you won't last forever, is more important than someone who is clearly hurting and in desperate need of a friend?"

"Some girl you barely know, who may not even want to be friends with you, is more important than the thing that makes your own sister happy?" Neru threw back. "Nero, if Dell tells anyone about Dad-"

"Then what kind of cousin is he?!" I snapped. I was done with this. I was so done. "Status and popularity in high school won't matter five years from now. Rin's life – the life of an innocent victim – is what's going be an issue of either a close call or a tragedy within that time."

"If that's the case, then let her," Dell had the audacity to say. "Let the weak take themselves out. Natural selection at its finest."

Screaming in rage was my first impulse. Biting my tongue was what I did. How far away from humanity was my cousin, the boy I grew up with and played cowboys and Indians side-by-side with? Was this a change I somehow missed? Or had he always been this way, and I had refused to see it till now?

Not that it mattered. My decision was made the same day I found Rin crying in the closet. I was in wholeheartedly, regardless of the consequences.

"Do what you want with me," I said, "but leave my sister out of this. And more importantly, don't you dare hurt Rin. She is my friend, and nothing you could ever do will make me change that."

Dell merely laughed. To him, I just presented a challenge. Neru turned and ran out of the room. To her, I just committed the ultimate betrayal. I walked past my cousin and ascended the stairs. To myself, I just signed my death warrant for someone who may never want to speak to me again anyway.

* * *

The next week was hard to live through. Not because Neru didn't talk to me or because Dell was not afraid to hang the family secret above my head. It was hard because Rin's tormentors were not afraid to hurt her physically now as well as emotionally. She hid bruises under sleeves despite the warming weather, and worse yet, she wouldn't talk to me. Or at least not if she could help it.

If I ever got her before social studies or after school ended for the day, all she would say was, "Leave me alone, Nero, before you make it worse for yourself," before getting away from me as quickly as possible. Maybe she was trying to protect me, or maybe she felt guilty for "ruining" what was left of my social status. Either way, her refusal to speak to me hurt. How do you help someone who refuses it?

Oh, that's right. You can't.

The next time I could speak to Rin, I just so happened to run into her while browsing an art store one Sunday afternoon. She was looking at the display of paint brush sets when I spotted her in the aisle. My heart stopped at the sight of her. It was as if I was observing a rare species of deer, and any wrong movements would case her to flee and never be seen again. I stood for a moment or two trying to figure out how to gain her attention, but it didn't matter. She spotted me first.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked when she tried to quickly walk away from me. When she stopped in her tracks, I added, "Rin, what's going on lately? Why won't you talk to me anymore? Was it something I said? Was it something I did?"

"No, Nero." Rin didn't turn around to look at me. "you didn't say or do anything to upset me."

"Then why do you refuse to speak with me? Rin, I'm worried about you, and by not talking to me, you're making it harder for me to convince myself that none of it is as bad as it seems to be."

For a while neither of us spoke. We stood still as statues, trapped in a moment that just happened by chance and would feel wrong to escape. Then, "I'm scared," Rin finally answered.

"Is associating with me hurting you?" I questioned, speaking slowly.

"Yes," Rin said slowly. "I know it's not your fault, and I could never blame you, but I can only take so much when communication between you and me is hurting us both-"

"Talking to you has never once hurt me," I interrupted, but immediately I know what I said was a lie. The relationships I had with Neru and Dell were strained. The secret about my father could be a well-known school fact if Dell decided to open his mouth. I had already lost whatever "friends" I had before Rin. I had suffered consequences for Rin. I made sacrifices for a girl who even now didn't want to be seen with me. Nothing I ever did was to hurt her, but she didn't seem to take any of that into consideration.

To Rin, I was just a nuisance that needed to go away.

"Did you ever want to be my friend?" I asked.

For the first time since running into each other, Rin turned around and actually looked at me. "What? And where did you get that nasty bruise?"

It took some willpower to not touch the blue and purple bruise on my jaw. Until now, she must have resisted the urge to ask. "You heard me, and don't worry about the bruise." My heart was being squeezed inside my chest. It hurt to breathe. My throat burned. "Did you ever, in any of our conversations, think that maybe we could be friends? When we went out on the golf cart, did you not think for even a second that perhaps I wanted nothing more than to go on dorky, stupid high school adventures with you?" I held up my hands in an offering gesture. "I'm not asking for your heart and soul, Rin. All I wanted was nothing more than to have you as someone to hang out with between classes and maybe after school. Do you really mean to tell me right here and now that never once did you want the same thing?"

After I finished with my little speech, I felt like an idiot. If Rin really wanted those things, she wouldn't let the jerks at school determine whether or not she spent lunch period with me. The truth I discovered in that moment was her reasons were actually excuses used to not hurt my feelings.

Rin didn't want to be my friend. Never did. Maybe that single chance was genuine, but it wasn't enough to convince her. The realization made breathing difficult. My eyes stung. The rejection hurt so much more than it should have. I supposed finding out then was for the better, because it didn't surprise me when Rin shook her head and answered me with a "No, I never once thought we could be friends."

Without a word, I began to walk away. There was no unspoken "but." Rin's answer was final, and there was no point trying to change it. None. It was fine, or so I told myself. I would respect her decision and carry no hard feelings.

"Nero!"

I turned back towards Rin to see what she wanted. Her face had deepened to a red, and her shoulders shook slightly. My attention was on her, but she didn't speak another word. Despite her feelings, she didn't want to hurt me. So much of me hoped she knew that I held nothing against her.

Taking a deep breath, Rin tried with, "Nero, I-"

"Rin?" called the voice that cut her off. It was Len, and if I didn't want him to get the wrong idea seeing me with an emotionally distraught Rin, I knew I had to leave before he came around. It wouldn't be good for Rin or me if Len fulfilled his promise, the one she didn't know he made.

"I'll see you tomorrow," was all I told her before I resumed the walk towards the exit of the store. She didn't call after me again, and that was fine. I can't do anything for her, and it was with a sigh of defeat I accepted that fact.


	4. Befriending Rin Kagamine

Chapter 04: Befriending Rin Kagamine ~ Nero

Note to self: Never tell Len Kagamine that he looks like a girl or else he will bite you. Well, that's the warning I got when Len got suspended for a few days after biting Wil Zola for claiming that the Brit looked like a girl. I don't think the comparison is a wrong one, but I know better than to play with that fire.

Anyway, the first two days after Len's suspension, Rin was almost impossible to find. Without her brother to act as a safeguard, she was on her own, and she chose camouflage as the weapon that would keep her safe. The only time I saw her those two days was social studies. That was it. Even Piko Utatane and other members of Len's clique never saw her between classes or during lunch.

It was after school day three, and I wanted to find Rin before either of us left. We didn't have to talk. I just wanted to see Rin and make sure she was all right. There was no way I could go home unless I knew if Rin was still holding it together.

"You're determined to find our little British friends, hmmm?" Miki, a ginger with a killer smile that could attract any boy she desired if her total moments of idiocy didn't turn them off, grinned and raised her eyes suggestively. With how she looked at me, I started to think that my "interest" in Rin was more her idea than Len's and he just chose to believe it.

"It's not like that!" I exclaimed, embarrassed. Perhaps I shouldn't have asked her after all.

"Oh, so is that why you're blushing?"

"I just want to know if she's okay," I argued. I didn't know why I was worried; Rin wanted nothing to do with me, so naturally I shouldn't have cared what happened to her now. Yet I did care, and I hated it. All I was doing was setting myself up for more humiliation, and the awareness of what I was doing did nothing to help.

Miki leaned in closer and purred like a cat. "Maybe you want more than that. OW!"

While the ginger rubbed the back of her head, Piko glared at her as he lowered the math textbook he used to hit her. "Leave the poor boy alone. I'm concerned for Rin, too, and you don't think I'm crushing on her."

"Because we all know you already have a thing for Len," Miki grumbled, a pout on her face. Piko rolled his eyes.

Looking at me, Piko said, "I don't know where Rin is. If there is one thing she's awfully good at, it's disappearing when she doesn't want to be seen. I can tell you where she went, but I can't guarantee you'll find her."

"That's all I need," I replied. When Piko told me that he last saw Rin in the freshman corridor, I instantly knew where she went. I thanked him for his help and groaned when Miki winked suggestively.

Anxiety clawing inside my chest, I wiped my sweaty palms against my shirt as I approached the art room. At first I couldn't figure out why Rin would go there after school instead of immediately leaving campus, but as I pondered the puzzle, I remembered something Dell said the same day I first took actual notice of Rin - something small, but never should have been overlooked.

 _"_ _Although I did spare one, just in case I ever need leverage."_

Leverage!

I burst into a sprint, tearing through the halls and hoping against hope that, whatever was happening, I wouldn't be too late. When I got to the art room, I froze. My fingers hovered above the doorknob, but I couldn't bring myself to touch the cool brass. Instead I leaned forward and pressed my ear against the door.

"-no idea what you're talking about." It was Rin's voice, tight and barely recognizable. "Now please, give me back my paintbrush."

"You don't understand how a bargain works, do you?" That time Dell spoke. "Here, let me give you a lesson. In a bargain, the parties must make an exchange; neither side can get something for nothing. In other words, if you want this stupid paintbrush back, you will tell me what you know about the basement."

 _Basement? Where is this coming from? Certainly Dell doesn't think there's a room under the school. . . . Does he?_

Rin voiced my thoughts. "You don't mean to tell me that you really think the school was built over something? Everyone knows that's just an urban legend."

"Shut it, mutt." That was Zatsune, and if she was there, so was Zeito. "We all know you're hiding something." _All._ How many were there in the room with Rin?

"I'm just telling you what my uncle told me," Rin said quickly, desperately.

"Told you," that was without a doubt Flower, "or told you to tell anyone who asked?"

"Maybe she needs some encouragement." Dell again. "Zeito?"

When I heard Rin scream, I lost the ability to think. I turned the knob, but the door was locked. My face paled.

"This is a warning," Dell said slowly. "If you fail to cooperate, the scissors will cut your skin at the same level."

"Please!" Rin shouted before crying out again.

High on adrenaline, I took three big steps away from the door before charging towards it. Pain shot through me, starting from where my shoulder met the door, but I thought nothing of it. Twice more I repeated the action, and both times the door didn't give. It went quiet inside.

I charged for a fourth attempt when the door opened and I ran through, tripping over somebody's exposed ankle. A cringe worthy cracking sound echoed when my nose crunched against the tile floors. Somebody gasped my name.

"Nero!"

Heart still pounding, I sat myself upright and found everyone in the room staring at me with wide-eyed shock. Zatsune, who had opened the door and tripped me, had her mouth hanging slightly open. Flower looked as if she couldn't decide if she should have felt anger or surprise. Zeito appeared confused, and Dell looked as if he wanted to kill me. Akaito was strangely absent.

Worse yet, Rin seemed terrified what would happen now that I was here. Zeito held her back, and Dell stood close in front of her, a lock of blonde strands in his fingers. I didn't want to believe it at first, but he was holding Rin's hair in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. When I managed to tear my eyes away from his fist, I looked again at Rin to see that a huge chunk of blonde hair was missing from her head. Dell cut her hair, and now the section of hair covering Rin's ear ended a little past her chin.

 _"The scissors will cut your skin at the same level."_

"You're going to kill her," I said slowly, not wanting to believe the words even as I spoke them. Rage filling and consuming me, I jumped to my feet, charged towards my cousin, and repeated with a shout, "You're going to kill her!"

Before I get close to Dell - to tackle him, punch him, rip Rin's cut hair out of his grasp, I don't know - Flower grabbed my arm and swung with so much force I fell back down without touching my cousin. I sat up again, blood gushing out of my nose. It crossed my mind that it was broken, but I didn't bring myself to care.

"Nero, get away while you can!" Rin cried.

"Shut it, monster," Dell ordered, the scissor blades pointed at the soft flesh under her chin. To Zatsune, "Tie him up." To me, Dell asked, "What are you doing here? Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

While Zatsune and Flower bound my wrist and ankles, Zeito giving me a look that said he would hurt Rin if I don't cooperate, I answered Dell's question with one of my own, "Why are you doing this? What did Rin do to deserve this? Dell, killing a person-"

"She is no person!" Dell interrupted. "This girl, your friend, is a Monster. Her and her idiot big brother."

"I'm the older twin," Rin growled.

"Shut up!" Dell snapped at her. Back to me, "There is something dangerous within this school, and Monsters like her are just waiting to unleash it on us. Trust me, Nero, killing her will do everyone a favor."

For a moment, I thought I was dreaming. No way Dell was this insane. No way his friends were okay with the straight up murder of a classmate. No way he was intent on killing Rin. He called my dad crazy, but he's no different. Maybe . . . Maybe it is genetic after all.

"All that time you mocked my dad," I said slowly but with certainty, "yet you were one of them all along. You're part of the- You're part of the-" For some reason, the words didn't want to come out of my mouth.

"Go ahead," Dell encouraged. "Say it."

That time I forced the words out. "You're a part of the Brotherhood of Huntsmen!" I exclaimed. Looking around the room, I added, "All of you."

While Rin whimpered, Dell clapped his hands in mock applause. "'Bout time you figured it out, coz."

"How long?"

"Long enough." Dell shrugged. "At first I turned away ol' Uncle Anan, but he was persistent. When he finally got me to sit down and listen, it was like the mud was removed from my eyes. He's right, the world is inhabited by Monsters, and it's the Brotherhood's job to annihilate every one of those freaks until this world is pure again." He turned his attention to Rin. "And it begins with this one."

I didn't know what to do. I couldn't continue to watch him threaten Rin, but I couldn't leave her to seek help either considering I was bound at the ankles and wrists. Talking. I had to keep him talking. It was all I could do for now. "What makes you think Rin's a Monster?" I asked. "I get that she's hyper, but is calling her a monster really necessary?"

"He's stalling us," Zatsune immediately called out. "Your cousin doesn't believe us, Dell. We really should get back to our mission."

"Thank you, Zatsune," Dell said. "As for you, Nero, what I will say is this: I know Rin's a Monster because her twin brother is one." I rose an eyebrow, which Dell must have caught because laughed. He tightly held Rin's chin with the same hand holding her hair as he continued, "Len Kagamine was too stupid to realize that I overheard him on the phone shortly after you started school here, yelling at some chic named Lily and blaming her for passing the 'alpha' gene to him and all that crap. Either he really is a Monster, or he's a hell of an actor."

"You can't prove anything," Rin mumbled.

"Yet it was so easy to convince you to not tell anyone what we said to you lest word of your brother spread like wildfire." Dell smirked. "Not that we expected you to believe us, anyway. No, we were smart enough to gain proof." At this, Dell used the hand holding the scissors to reveal a thumb drive. "There is proof, and enough of it will justify killing the both of you. However, what we needed more than exposing your filthy kind was information, information that would only come from Mr. Al's mysterious niece and nephew. We knew we weren't going to get anywhere with that rotten boy – why, he would've killed us to make sure we didn't talk."

"Len would never-"

"Shut it." Dell shook Rin's chin a little too harshly. "A talkative one, aren't you? It wasn't too hard to get almost everyone at the school to not like Hyper Piper. You did a lot to help us with your freakish energy and irritating voice. Geez."

"Dell," Zatsune began, "you know why the bad guys in movies never succeed in their plans? They keep going on and on about their motives. Just like you're doing right now. This isn't a story, but that doesn't mean we will be discovered if you keep flapping your gums."

"The point is there is a basement under this school containing something very dangerous." Dell turned his attention back to Rin. "Last chance, mutt: Where is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Rin pleaded.

"Okay then." Dell looked over his shoulder. "Flower?"

The lavender-haired girl held up something small and baby blue: a paintbrush. It must have held great importance to Rin, for she cried out at the sight of it. "My mum gave that to me! It's all I have left of home. Give it back!" Tears began to pool out of her eyes and stream down her cheeks. I tried to stand with my tied limbs, but Zatsune kicked me back down.

"No, you don't," she grumbled.

"Last chance!" Dell shouted. "Where is the entrance to the basement?!"

"The-there is none!" Rin wailed. She struggled to get out of Zeito's grasp, but she made no progress. However, something didn't seem right. Rin wasn't putting all of her strength into it. Didn't she once claim that she's stronger than she looks? If that's true, why hasn't she made any solid chances of escape? Was it because she was surrounded, or did she not want to accidentally "confirm" these ridiculous suspicions? It just didn't add up.

Dell sighed as if disappointed. "Too bad things had to come to this. Flower, do it."

Helpless to do anything, Rin and I watched as Flower took the brush between both of her hands and broke the wood into two. Rin shouted but did nothing more than cry. Behind me, Zatsune growled in irritation.

"We're no closer now than we were a month ago," she said. "With that stupid boy gone, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to interrogate the girl. After all the beatings and verbal and emotional abuse we put her through . . ." Zatsune shook her head. "There's nothing we can do with her."

"Unfortunately, you're right." Dell gave me one last look before he said, "It's best if you don't watch."

The color drained from Rin's tear-stained face. She went limp in Zeito's arms just as the world around me got foggy. Scissors reflecting the light, the blades were aimed at Rin's neck.

I had failed. In a few seconds, Rin would be killed over these insane accusations. As for me, I wouldn't know what Dell would do to keep me from talking. Frame me? It crossed my mind. The school had multiple witnesses to the sudden and strange interest I developed for Rin these past few weeks, and her rejection, made in the very front of the school, would be all the reason to give me a motive. Zeito wore a jacket, preventing Rin from getting of his skin under her nails, and as for the scissors . . . Well, it wouldn't be much effort for Dell to wipe his fingerprints off the handle. With every witness on Dell's side, it would be the word of four against one.

Cerulean eyes meeting mine, Rin mouthed the words _I'm sorry_ before she closed her eyes. I wished she didn't so that she could see me correct her. It should have been me who apologized. I didn't save her; I did nothing but sit on the floor as Dell raised the scissors above his head.

That was the point I closed my eyes, too. I couldn't watch. Even if I made myself, I couldn't manage to keep my eyes on Rin as her throat was slit and blood poured out from the wound.

"Dell, stop!"

My eyes flew open. That was Neru who spoke. I didn't believe it, but turning around proved to me that I was not wrong. Neru did stand behind me, chest heaving as if she had sprinted down the hall. Showing up immediately behind her and just making the scene, Mr. Al rushed in and pushed Neru aside. Too quickly for my mind to process it, Mr. Al threw Zeito off Rin and knocked the scissors out of Dell's hand.

When he saw the strand of hair my cousin also held, Mr. Al growled in an inhuman way and said, "Tormenting another student, cutting her hair, and attempting to kill her – I hope the four of you have no plans for graduation. Well, at least not plans outside of prison."

While the others were distracted by the very presence of her uncle, Rin kept low to the ground as she crawled away. Instead of leaving the room as I expected her to, Rin stopped by my feet and began undoing the knots. For half a moment we made eye contact, but it broke when Rin looked away in favor of untying the cords.

"You can't do anything to us." Dell didn't sound as confident as he looked. Monster or no, Mr. Al is a giant of a man. I'd be scared of him too if he stood over me like that.

"No," Mr. Al agreed, "but the police can."

"I-it's us against you!" Dell tried, but he was immediately proven otherwise when Mr. Tonio, Mr. Hiyama, and Ms. Ann walked into the room as well. At this point, Rin was untying the cords around my wrists.

"This is the Slender Man incident all over again," Ms. Ann said as she shook her head. Looking at Rin and me, she suggested, "Let's get you two out of here while the men handle this group."

Rin and I again made eye contact before looking at Rin's aunt and nodding. It went without saying that the both of us were ready to get out of there.

* * *

The police arrived; Dell and his friends were arrested; Neru, Rin, and I, after I cleaned the blood off my face, were questioned separately; and the art room was being swept for evidence. I later learned that Neru happened to overheard Dell and Akaito talk about what they planned to do with Rin after school, Akaito claiming he wanted nothing to do with it, and it took all of her courage to find Mr. Al and let him know. If not for her, things would have ended differently. As grateful as everyone was for her taking action, it didn't seem that Neru was happy about it.

When my sister refused to stay with me after my questioning, I found Rin sitting on the curb close to a police car and holding a bottle of water she had opened but didn't drink. "Want some company?" I asked as I came close to her. Rin answered with a nod. Sitting a couple feet away from her, I said, "I'm sorry about everything that happened today."

"Why are you sorry?" Rin set the water by her feet. "This isn't your fault. I know none of it is, so you don't have to feel the need to apologize."

"I guess I just don't know what's appropriate to say."

"Given your weird compliments, I don't think you ever know what is and what isn't appropriate to say." I was glad to see Rin smile as she said that. It meant she was going to be okay despite how crazy the last couple of hours were. Maybe there was a chance I would be okay too. I mean, it's not every day you witness your cousin almost commit murder.

Hearing no reply from me, Rin didn't say anything else. She picked her water bottle back up, took a small sip, and frowned. Something was running through her mind.

"Penny for your thoughts," I said, not really expecting a response.

"I could've died today," Rin replied, surprising me. "I could've died, yet I'm not shaken up about it. Is that odd?"

Before I could answer, two women approached us. One was Ms. Ann, and the other was my mom. Whatever they were discussing was immediately cut off when they came within earshot of Rin and me.

"Rin," Ms. Ann told her niece, "this is Ms. Akita, Neru and Nero's mom. She's offered to take you to her home until your uncle and I get this mess figured out. We'll pick you up as soon as we're done here. Is that all right, dear? Or would you rather wait here until then? Just know that this could take a couple hours."

When Rin didn't answer right away, my mom smiled at her and said, "It's okay if you chose to stay. I won't have hurt feelings." At the sight of Rin's hair, Mom added, "I'm a hair stylist. If you want, I can fix your hair. I'm afraid most of it will have to go, but I think I know a look that will look great on you."

Rin sat for a moment as if quietly contemplating her choices, but finally she replied with, "I'll go." To her aunt, "You will pick me up as soon as you're done?"

"Promise." Ms. Ann sighed. "Your uncle is helping with the evidence now. He wanted to see how legit Dell's claim was." Then, saying the words in a hushed tone, she said, "We won't let word of this travel."

"Does Len know?" Rin asked. When Ms. Ann answered with a shake of her head, Rin said, "Let's keep it that way, please."

Mom gave me a look that wondered if I knew what Rin and Ms. Ann were talking about. I responded with a shrug. Pushing the topic aside, Mom said to Rin, "I'll need to pull the car around, but we'll be good to go whenever you are."

* * *

The drive back home was spent in awkward silence. Mom and I didn't know what to say. Neru simply didn't want to talk. Rin spent the drive sitting in the backseat, head in her hands.

"I'm fine," she insisted when asked. "It's just . . . the way Americans drive makes me nervous. I can't train my brain to register that you're in fact not driving on the wrong side of the road and a big truck won't come out of nowhere and meet you head on."

We didn't question her reason. Before we got into the car, Rin was fine. It was when Mom started the ignition that Rin began to shake. As Neru sat in the passenger's seat, I was the one in the back with Rin. I reached out to place a hand on her back, but before I could, Rin snapped, "Don't touch me!"

Of course I pulled away, but that didn't stop me from observing her. For someone who really enjoyed taking the security golf cart out for a joyride, Rin acted like she was motion sick. It was enough to make me wonder if she had been involved in an accident.

Upon arriving home, Mom took Rin into the kitchen while Neru and I went upstairs. Ever since she burst into the art room, Neru hadn't said anything. Or at least anything that wasn't an answer to a question the police asked her.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked before Neru could close her bedroom door.

She looked at me, eyebrows raised. "Huh?"

"Why'd you do it?" I repeated. "You didn't care about Rin to begin with, so why did you get her uncle? Why save her when you already made it clear that you don't care about her?"

Neru's answer didn't come quickly. For a moment we stood a few feet from each other, not making any form of eye contact. Stroking her door, Neru bit her lip as she tried to figure out what to say. Then, "I'm not that cruel, Nero. I may have acted like it wouldn't bug me if Rin died, but the thought really did terrify me. Especially if she killed herself. That's how it ends for so many bully victims these days, and I just-" Neru slammed her forehead against the door. I flinched, but Neru didn't seem to feel anything.

"You're a way better person than I'll ever be," Neru then said softly. "I was okay letting someone get such awful treatment just because I didn't want to get thrown to the wolves for saying something against it. I was selfish. More than selfish. All I cared about was a status. You're different."

Neru stood straight again and met me in the eye. "You saw a hurting person, and you were willing to help her regardless of the cost. While I was only looking out for myself, you were looking out for somebody who had nobody else to turn to. I . . . I didn't go to Mr. Al to save Hyper Piper's life. Not really. I mean I think I would have anyway because Dell wanting to kill somebody is scary no matter what, but my real reason for my getting her uncle was because I thought it'd put me on the same level as you. Maybe if I helped the girl you put so much energy into trying to befriend, then maybe it'd make us equal. I don't know."

"It's not too late." I wasn't sure why I said it, but when Neru looked at me with surprise, I kept the ball rolling. "Forget why you did it, Rin wouldn't be alive if not for you. I say that's a pretty big step in the right direction."

For a while all Neru did was stare at me. I guess what I said worked, because she replied, "Thank you, Nero," before closing her bedroom door and isolating herself from the rest of us. Things were going to be different, but in that moment, I could never figure out which kind of different they were going to be.

* * *

I walked down the stairs slowly and stiffly. Gripping a wooden box in my hands, I forced myself towards the dining room. In there, Rin sat on the stool I fixed so many times while Mom cut her once long hair. I didn't enter but instead lingered by the doorway to listen to what they were talking about.

"Again, I'm sorry I have to cut off so much hair," Mom said, her scissors snipping like a background noise. "I have to make the rest of your hair match up with the shortest strand, and unfortunately said strand is super short."

"It's okay," Rin replied, but the words were forced.

"I promise your new cut will look cute," Mom tried. Rin didn't say anything.

For a while, all I heard was the snips of the tiny blades. I don't know why I stood where I did for so long. It was like I couldn't get my feet to move from there place on the carpet.

I didn't stand there long, however. It couldn't have been five minutes later when I heard Mom say before she left the kitchen through the other way, "Don't tell Nero I said this, but I've noticed recently how intent he was on befriending someone at school. I never said anything. The whole situation put him at odds with Neru, but he's stubborn."

What Mom didn't say was, "like his dad." I'm glad she didn't compare me to him, even if that was a positive comparison.

"Like a mule," Rin agreed. I tried to hide my snort. "He doesn't know when to quit."

"Good thing, too," Mom went on to say. "I still can't believe what Dell almost did. I'm ashamed, really. A precious girl like you . . ." I could sense Mom shaking her head. "Good thing Nero felt the need to check up on you or else Neru might have been too late. I'll be the first to tell you that my son can be a big idiot"- Gee, thanks Mom -"but he is a good friend."

I was expecting to hear Rin say that she and I were not friends. She was so insistent on not wanting to be around me I truly believed she felt the same even now. This was why my heart nearly stopped when I heard Rin reply, "Nero is a good friend. A really, really good friend."

For a while neither Mom nor Rin said anything, and then, "Let me get you a mirror."

That was the moment I entered the kitchen. I stopped two steps in. Rin with short hair . . . looks like a totally different person. Her once waist length locks were now shortened to a stylish bob, yet the look suited her better. The long hair belonged to Hyper Piper, a hyperactive girl liked by nobody and tormented by many. This girl before me was Rin, the girl who sacrificed everything for her brother and braver than anyone I've ever met.

I must have stared at her for too long, because Rin said, "Please stop looking at me like that. It's kind of creepy."

"Sorry." I shook my head. "It's just, your hair-"

"Looks awful?" Rin ran her fingers through the cut, seemingly distressed at how quickly she went through all her locks.

"Looks amazing," I corrected. "Short hair suits you better."

"Here we go." Mom entered the kitchen and smiled at the sight of me. "Rin looks wonderful, doesn't she?" I nodded in agreement, hoping Rin could see the sincerity in my movements.

Looking into the mirror, Rin didn't try to hide her frown. "I don't look my mum anymore."

"You look like you," I blurted out before I knew my mouth was open. Thinking fast, I added, "I mean, you didn't look like a Rin before, but you totally look like one now. Maybe your new haircut will help people remember your name."

"I doubt it," Rin mumbled, her eyes returning to the mirror.

Mom leaned forward and told Rin, "Your hair will grow back. Until then, I'm afraid this will have to do." She then pulled away and said to me, "I'm going to see if Mrs. Johnson will be picking Rin any time up soon. I would like to know if Rin needs to have dinner with us."

Nodding was my only response. After Mom left, I sat on the stool next to Rin's. She was still looking at the mirror and running her fingers through her hair. "It doesn't look bad," I said, not knowing what else to say.

"I know." Rin sighed. "It's just . . . different. I've never had short hair before."

"What do you think so far?"

"I'm not sure. As I look into this mirror, it's like seeing someone who isn't me; but at the same time, I'm not unhappy with who I'm looking at. Does that make sense?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't understand you at all," Rin narrowed her eyes, "but I do think you look better with your hair that way. Who knows? Perhaps it could be a symbol of a new start for you."

For a moment Rin considered what I said. "I guess you're right. Things are different now, so maybe it's time I reinvent myself. This could just be step one." Rin stared at me for a moment before asking, "What's in the box?"

"Huh?" I shifted my gaze to my hands. I had completely forgotten that I was holding the box. Awkwardly, I held it out. "For you."

Confusion flooded Rin's face. Slowly, she reached out and accepted the gift. After she removed the lid, Rin carefully peeled back the parchment like a snake was hidden under it. Instantly, her confusion exploded into surprise. "Paintbrushes?!" she exclaimed in a whisper.

I nodded. "To replace the ones Dell broke."

"How did you-? Where did you-?" Rin shook her head. "Okay, priorities. First off, how did you know that Dell broke every paintbrush in my set?"

"Well, he did hold a single paintbrush hostage so . . ."

Rin's face turned red. She apparently forgot about that part of our afternoon. "Okay then. Where did you get this set?"

"I made it." Rin asked me what I said, and I repeated myself. I made the set, "and about lost my mind over it too because I've never made anything so delicate before."

Even slower than opening the box, Rin picked up a single paintbrush. She tested its weight and then held it in her fingers as if she was going to paint. The wood was smooth - or it should have been from the hours I spent sandpapering every single brush, and I'm pretty sure I inserted the brush hair I got at the art store right. Though my skills weren't excellent, I still hoped that my brushes were satisfactory.

"How did you know that Dell broke my brushes?" Rin asked again. "Like, when did you first find out? There's no way you made these in the time it took for your mum to cut my hair."

Chewing on my lower lip, I answered, "A few minutes after I found you crying in the janitor's closet. Before I left the cafeteria, Dell and Akaito were telling those of us at the table about breaking a classmate's set of brushes. I knew they meant you because Akaito attempted to speak in a British accent. His accent was terrible, but I was still able to catch on what he was going for."

Rin ran her fingers along the wood. "And you spent all this time making this replacement set for me?"

I shrugged. "They're meant as an apology for how horrible my cousin is. After today, I really hope they're doing a decent job of saying sorry."

"But it's not your fault you have such an awful cousin."

"Then I also hope they're saying that you don't have to worry about me because he and I are nothing alike."

Hearing those words, Rin snapped her gaze upwards. For the first time since receiving the box, Rin made eye contact with me. "Of course you two are nothing alike," she said. "I knew the moment you asked me if I was all right that you weren't like almost everyone else at the school, and learning later that Dell is your cousin did nothing to change my initial thoughts. You're never who you're related to, you know."

"I know," I replied, "but it doesn't hurt to be sure."

That was when Rin looked away again. She put the brush she was studying back in its box and then placed the lid on top. "I don't paint anymore," she said after a while. "Of course I had to stop when Dell broke my brush set and I couldn't find a replacement I liked, but when I didn't have a choice . . . I felt less homesick, really. Painting reminds me too much of my mum and my friends and my mini art studio that my mum set up for me at our flat for my fourteenth birthday. Now that I don't paint, it's been easier to accept all of this. I'm in America, I live with my aunt and uncle, and my life is never going to be the same again. Those thoughts don't scare me anymore. If anything, they excite me. I'm on adventure, and as hard as things have been, there's always an opportunity for it to get better. Maybe not with Len, but everything else is still a possibility." Cheeks again turning red, Rin said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go on like that."

"Don't worry about it," I replied. "Sometimes telling somebody something makes it more real. They're not just thoughts and words anymore, but real feelings and such. Doesn't telling me what you did make you feel a bit better?"

"No." Rin shook her head. "It makes me feel a lot better. Am I bad a person for saying this?"

"I'm not judging you, so does it matter?"

Instead of replying, Rin just smiled. I returned to the smile before saying, "Take the paintbrushes with you when you leave. Maybe one day you will want to try painting again, and you're going to need some brushed to do so."

Rin laughed. "All right, because you insist."

Before I could say anything, Mom poked her head through the doorway. "Rin, your aunt's here."

"Okay, thank you." Mom disappeared again, and Rin picked up the box and hoped off the stool. She made it halfway to the door, stopped, and turned back around. Moving quickly, Rin ran back to me, set the box down, and crushed me in the tightest hug I've ever experienced.

"Thank you so much," she said. "For everything. I'm sorry I was so awful to you when you really were just looking out for me. If you didn't find me when you did-" Rin tightened her already strong hug. "Thank you."

Not knowing what to do, I wrapped my arms around her. For somebody so small, she really has a strong grip. "Don't mention it."

"I won't." Rin pulled away. For some reason, I felt an aching in my chest when Rin did so. "Len can't know about this. Never. Aunt Ann and Uncle Al are doing everything they can to keep today out of the news, or at least our names anyway. I don't yet know what Dell and his friends are supposedly getting arrested for, but you can't correct the rumors. Neither can Neru. Please. I won't ever ask for anything ever again. Just please let today be a bad dream. Please."

There was so much desperation in Rin's eyes that I doubted I could deny her even if I wanted to. This brought back my questions to why she and Len moved here in the first place, but I didn't ask. I never would. I knew in time Rin would tell me the secrets she kept, but I never could have imagined any of them. Until then, nothing had to be like that day. This was a day that would, for the most part, remained tucked away where nobody could see it.

"I won't say a word," I vowed.

Again Rin threw her arms around me. Then, I assume without thinking, she kissed me on the cheek. She immediately pulled away and looked horrified. Quickly she stated, "Tell anyone about this, and I'll kill you myself."

"There's nothing to tell." Without giving the confused Rin a chance to react, I stuck out my hand and said, "Hi! My name's Nero Akita. Don't we have social studies together? You look awfully familiar."

For a while the confusion stuck on Rin's face, but as she it faded away, she laughed and took my hand. "Yes, we do share that class. I'm Rin Kagamine. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine." After we shook, I added, "You have lovely pores."

Rin snorted. "Should I be warned of awkward compliments and weird habits?"

I smiled even bigger. "You should be very warned."

Shaking her head, Rin said over her laugh, "I guess I'll see you in class Monday." Then, super quickly, "Want to hang during lunch?"

"You bring a bag of Lays, and I'll bring an orange."

"Deal."

"Rin!" That was Ms. Ann. I guess she and Mom must have been talking the whole time Rin and I made our exchanges, but now she was ready to leave.

"Coming!" Rin picked the box back up and looked at me. "Bye, Nero."

"Bye, Rin." I waved as she left the kitchen. I listened to her and her aunt's conversation before both left, but I didn't take much in. Instead I was too busy grinning like an idiot.

Rin Kagamine is my friend. Even then I knew that were going to have a lot of fun going on adventures together. Whatever popularity I could've gotten thanks to Dell didn't matter, because none of it was real. Rin is. It wasn't too long before she became my best friend, and it was a year after that I realized just what exactly I gotten myself into when I befriended her. Not all of it may have been the adventure I had it mind, but I still wouldn't have traded our relationship for anything else in the world.


	5. Conclusion

Chapter 05: Conclusion ~ Rin

There you have it, the awful back story of mine. Or at least what went down in America, at least.

I'm no longer Hyper Piper. I'm no longer Len's Sister (okay, sometimes I'm still called Len's Sister, but mostly by those who don't really have a reason to know me). I may still be one of the least popular girls in school, but people are… nicer, I guess, now Dell is gone, and now it's the new year. But I don't care if I'm the least popular anymore. Finally, at last, I'm Rin Kagamine again, just like I was back in the UK. Maybe not the adored Rin Kagamine I was back then, but at least people know my name now.

Thanks to a certain, blonde doofus.

Dell… he still scares me. Just hearing his name honestly sends shivers up my spine. Akaito, Dell's once best friend is kinda lucky he stopped being friends with Dell a while before. Realised what a jerk Dell was, plus… Akaito's a vampire, Kaito's older brother, left school by the time Miku came. I don't think I've ever said a word to Akaito to be honest, so I have no idea how much breaking up with Dell was because Dell hates monsters.

I don't think he's ever told Kaito. If he had, well, Kaito would have told Len by now. Still, I don't like speaking to Kaito. He is my ex-bully's younger brother, after all, plus, one of the most liked in his year, despite his love-hate relationship with the tennis players. I dunno if he notices I don't speak to him, he's Len's friends after all, not mine. I guess you could say I'm not really friends with anyone in the Monster Club… not really, anyway.

But I am friends with Nero. _Rin Kagamine_ , with the short hair and ability to smile again is friends with Nero, not _Hyper Piper_ , with the long hair that looks like her mother, and forgot how to be happy. Rin and Nero are friends, something that feels weird, really, but honestly, something I wouldn't ever change for the world.

Don't tell Nero, though. Can't let it get to his head. He's gotta stay a goofball, _my_ goofball.

Nero makes coming to America worth it, even if Len doesn't.

I'd once wiped away Len's tears as he sobbed about being sent away. But he was never there for me, and I'm not sure he ever will be. America's gotten to his head, and he's left me alone. Nero, however, I have faith he won't (note to Miku: if you're reading this, please end me if I turn out to be wrong) (note to Len: if you're reading this, even though you really, really shouldn't be, please don't hurt Nero). Len may be my idiot brother, but Nero's my idiot friend.

Plus, he gave me paintbrushes.

"What's that?" Aunt Ann had asked when I came up to her, the paintbrushes in my hand.

"Paintbrushes, duh," I had said as I lifted them up for her to see. "Nero made them for me, because Dell broke my old ones."

Aunt Ann and Nero's mum had shared a small smile, and Ann had said to me, "He's a sweet kid. Keep him."

And keep him I have. Sometimes annoyingly, when he's decided to be particularly irritating for the day, but keep him I still do.

So we hang out at lunch. I bring the Lays (I do miss Walkers), and he brings the oranges. He makes the weirdest compliments. I get confused and laugh anyway. We steal Len's homework and set it on fire on the odd occasion. We mess around, and I can pretend that everything, for once, is fine.

One day, I plan to properly tell him about the Monster World, and initiate him into our club, but for now, I don't really want him to get into danger again, so he can wait. Besides, Len still doesn't like him, and things with Len are awkward enough as it is. I don't need him getting annoyed I've invited Nero the Normie into 'his' club.

Oh, Len, if only he was more, I dunno, _chill_ about everything. I can't tell him what happen. I mean, who knows what he'll do if he ever finds out? Sometimes I try to convince myself that he wouldn't care, because it doesn't seem that he cares about me. It would be easier if that was true, wouldn't it?

But no, if Len found out I nearly _died_ because I came to America with him, because of something _he_ had done… I don't think the results would be pretty. Let's be honest, he'd hurt someone, borderline kill someone, and the worrying thing is… _who_?

But he doesn't know still, thankfully. He's blissfully wrapped up in his own, way more fortunate life in America. And I'm going to keep it that way (note to Miku: you better not tell him, you're my girl bestie now, so I trust you to do as I wish) (note to Len: if you've gotten this far… yikes. But you shouldn't be reading this, so I think I'm good).

And that's the story of Hyper Piper done, really. Bet you didn't expect that, huh? The Adventures of Rin and Nero shall continue, obviously, but not so drastically. My brother has a lot more to say on the subject (too much, to be honest). So, if you want to continue The Adventures of Rin and Nero, you gotta plow through The Not-So-Exciting Adventures of Len Bullying Miku (note to Len: don't even try to fight me on that title. She threw an orange at your head for a reason).

Of course, it isn't just The Adventures of Rin and Nero anymore (I mean, it wasn't ever that anyway, it was more like The Depressing Tale of Hyper-Freaking-Piper). Now we have The Adventures of Rin, Nero and–

I'm sat at my desk, next to the window like an anime protagonist, pushing damp strands of hair out of my face. I'm focusing on homework, when I hear people start whispering.

"What's that girl doing walking towards Hyper Piper?"

Great, didn't take them long to go back to that name.

"That hyperactive freak can't have friends, can she? Or at least others besides the weirdo Akita twin."

Nero isn't a weirdo, thank you! Okay, he is, but not in the mean way you say it!

"No way. That girl's new."

"You're right: I've never seen her before. Think we should warn her?"

"The new girl is pretty; it'd be a shame if she associated with the wrong people right out of the gate."

I freeze. I don't move my head, but I do cast a side-eye towards the teal-haired girl that has just walked in. I then look back at my paper and wipe my eyes. I don't need this right now.

"Sit with us," someone whispers. Go on, sit with them. I have Nero.

"Ex-excuse me," a voice stutters, and I stop tugging on my hoodie and look up to see the tealette standing in front of me. She points to the empty chair next to me. "Is anyone sitting here?"

And that, my friends, is how The Adventures of Rin, Nero and Miku finally begin.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I really hope the five of you who read this story liked it! _Hyper Piper_ holds a very special place in my heart, and I'm super glad to have it out there for you to read. Whether or not you read or are reading _The Monster Club_ , I hope you've come to love these characters as much as I do. ****:)**

 **Thanks again to my amazing friend Kate of K. A. Farron for writing the introducing and concluding chapters in Rin's perspective! If you haven't checked her out yet, then I highly suggest you do.**

 **Till we meet again, stay awesome, beautiful people!**

 **\- Raye**


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